Tuesday, September 29, 2015

Takata Air Bag Recalls Could Be Expanded

Seven more companies could face recalls because they use air bag inflators made by Takata Corp., according to the Spokesman-Review.

About 23.4 million Takata driver and passenger air bag inflators have been recalled on U.S. vehicles sold by 11 different companies, including Honda and Fiat Chrysler. The inflators can explode with too much force, causing metal shrapnel to fly. At least eight people have died worldwide and hundreds have been injured.

Letters were recently sent to Mercedes-Benz, Jaguar-Land Rover, Suzuki, Tesla, Volvo Trucks, Volkswagen and Spartan Motors by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration seeking information on which models have Takata inflators.

NHTSA said one purpose of the letters is to figure out how many additional vehicles might have to be recalled. The agency is preparing for an Oct. 22 public meeting to discuss an ongoing investigation into Takata and whether the agency will take over management of all the recalls to speed up repairs. As of Sept. 1, only 4.4 million had been replaced. Automakers have had to scramble to get parts.

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SRTC is the federally designated Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) for Spokane County. Urbanized areas with populations exceeding 50,000 people are required to have an MPO. SRTC was formed to address the county's transportation planning needs. It provides coordination in planning between the public, cities, small towns, the county, the state, transit providers, and tribes.

SRTC offers services including transportation monitoring, transportation modeling, census information analysis, travel demand forecasting, historical traffic count analysis, geographic information systems, and trip generation rates.